Improvement in car-coupling



6.1M, BEARDSLEY} Car Coupling.

Pateri tedl Nov. 15, 1867.

nlmznsmnowumosmmgm msmrlmou o c GEORGE .M. BEARDSLEY, OF FENTON, MICHIGAN. Letters Patent No. 70,505, dated November 5, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT IN GAR-COUPLING.

TO ALL WIIOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, GEORGE M. BEARDSLEY, of Fenton, in the county of Genesee, in thb State of Michigan, have invented a new and useful Self-Coupler for Railroad Cars; and I do hereby declare that the following The design of my invention is to do away with the danger of coupling cars, and to make itcasy to separate the cars while in motion, in case of accidents requiring that the cars should be separated, to preserve the lives of the passengers that might be thus spared.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my'invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

I construct my car-coupling in this wise, in which- Figure 1 of the annexed drawings is a side view. I

A, as in the figure, is a representation of one of the buffer-rods, furnished with a clcvis, 13, similar in form to the common plough clcvis, but without notches, and fastened at a to the said buffer-rod Abya bolt, and hold in the centre of the end of said buffer-rod A by a band, C, and supported in its place by springs b, said springs 6 also fastened either by a bolt or with screws, as shown in Figure 2. Said springs b to be made strong cnough to hold theclevis B in the centre of said bufl'er-rod A, and likewise to break the sidewise motion of the cars as they strike the rail, thereby easing each car thus connected from the violence of the shock in thus jogging from side to side. Letter A, on fig l, is the other bufier-rod represented, as shown in the said figure, and is furnished with two latches D. Said latches are to be made of two plates of iron of equal thickness, and laid one on the top of the other, and fastened as shown at E, by a bolt, and at the other end furnished with a hook, as shown in the figure; likewise, each having a slot, in which are the outer ends of a toggle or knee-joint, e, fastened as shown in the said fig. 2. Said latches are held together by two springs F, as shown in-th are also fastened by bolt or screws to the buffer-rod A. Said toggle or knee-joint is designed to use in uncoup ling the cars when needed, and operated, as shown in fig. 2, by means of a rcel-shaped joint, H, and a short pitman, cl, and arm C, shaft G, and lever I. Now, as the buffer-rods A. and A are apart, and they are each attached to separate cars, and lover I is in the position of the black lever, and it is required that the cars should be coupled, all that will be required is to back them together, and they will be fastened to all intents and purposes until the lever is drawn back as shown by the red lever in fig. 1.

To construct this car-coupling I intend to use for the buffer-rods either wood or iron. If woodis used, there will be a slot in the buffer-rod A of suflicient size to receive the latches and have the stops as shown in fig. 2, to prevent the latches from being forced too far apart. The latches will be made of iron, as also the knee or toggle-joint, which iron will be of equal thickness, and placed together as shown in the said fig. 2, and worked and held to their places by bolts or screws, and springs, substantially as described above. There will likewise be a slot for the admission of the clevis, as shown in fig. 2; said clevis fastened and held in its place snbstan tially as described above. It is likely the buffer-rods will more commonly be made of iron, and will be made of wide bar-iron, with stops between them, leaving room for the latches; and in some cases it will be necessary to make the whole of the parts in a form that will contain in each buffer-rod both the latches and clevis, which can be done easily, and in so doing avoid the difficulty of the cars. troubling the operators, in case they should be changed ends with, as would be the case on a Y-track sometimes.

7 Now, as there is great danger of the cars running off the track, and thereby sometimes destroying many lives, this invention of mine will be of great utility, inasmuch as the difliculty of uncoupling the trains in case of accident'is avoided, as by just drawing back on the lever the cars can be uncoupled in an instant, no matter how heavy the train in front draws on the coupling, as there are two of the most powerful principles of mechanics combined in thcapparatus to be used in the act of uncoupling. In case the locomotive should be in the act of leaving the track over an embankment, and in'all probability the whole train is likely to follow with y uncouple the train, no kc, and thereby save the the ordinary coupling, this is to enable the brakcman, at a given signal, to instantl matter what the motion is at which it is running, and at the same time put on the bra lives of many human beings that otherwise must be lost;

efigure. Said springs If the buffer-rods are made of iron it will be necessary to observe the abcyc arrangement in all its parts. The toggle-joint can be moved with the common lever or with the ordinary cam; either will do it by a little difference of form. If it is wished to move the cars to a short distance by backing the train, and not have them. connect, the lever will necessarily have to be fastened. back, so as not to allow the latches to close in the clevis, and that will be all that will be necessary to observe, the whole to be constructed and opcrzttcd as described above.

I claim the double hooks D D with operating arms and lovers, in combination with the arrow-headed. oupling-bar, its frame and springs, all constructed and arranged as described and for the purpose as set forth.

GEORGE M. BEARDSLEY.

Witnesses:

E. M. Hovnv, W. P. GUEST. 

